Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

by David Goggins

was one of those kids who thought he was gaming the system when, the whole time, I’d been gaming myself.

Your life is not fucked up because of overt racists or hidden systemic racism.

You aren’t missing out on opportunities, making shit money, and getting evicted because of America or Donald fucking Trump or because your ancestors were slaves or because some people hate immigrants or Jews or harass women or believe gay people are going to hell. If any of that shit is stopping you from excelling in life, I’ve got some news. You are stopping you!

stood up slow, she hugged me with everything she had, and her excitement broke my heart. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. I wasn’t ready. My body was still broken, I was $30,000 in credit card debt, and still only a reservist. I had no address of my own and no car. I was unstable, and that made me very insecure.

“You didn’t bring salt pills?” she asked, shocked. I shrugged. I didn’t know what the fuck a salt pill was.

I said that to myself again and again because that’s how our governor works. It massages your ego even as it stops you short of your goals.

No matter who you are, life will present you similar opportunities where you can prove to be uncommon.

developing your own code of ethics that sets you apart from others.

In my mind I’m that racehorse always chasing a carrot I’ll never catch, forever trying to prove myself to myself. And when you live that way and attain a goal, success feels anti-climactic.

He began balancing his strength work with extensive stretching and noticed whenever he reached a certain range of motion in a given muscle group or joint, whatever pain lingered, vanished.